Minimum Effective Dose • The best way to improve your running is to run more miles • The best way to get injured running is to run more miles Every runner who is seeking to improve will at some point face this problem – the best way to get fitter is to run more miles but if I do that, I’m likely to get injured. Most running books and magazines quote the 10% rule when looking to increase mileage – that it is safe to increase your mileage by 10% each week. Some wiser writers include the warning that every fourth week should be a recovery week where you back off to let your body recover. Using this as a principle though, you could go from running 10 miles a week to running 100 miles in a week in less than a year! Well you … [Read more...]
Law 2: Start Gradually and Train Gently
August 28, 2009 By Leave a Comment
Nearly all of us dash into it hoping for and expecting results which are quite unwarranted. Nature is unable to make a really first class job of anything if she is hustled. To enhance our best, we need only, and should only, enhance our average. That is the basis we ought to work on, for it succeeds every time when the other fails. So, in running, it is essential to take to it kindly. Many beginning runners experience their first injury fairly on in their running career. Often, after successfully completing their first race and full of enthusiasm, they increase their training realising that more miles equals better racing and end up at the physio’s. For most untrained people, the cardio vascular system will adapt to a training stress far … [Read more...]
To finish first, you must first finish – Rick Mears
July 20, 2009 By Leave a Comment
Of all the sessions I’ve written about this one is probably my favourite. Olga Bondarenko was a Russian athlete competing over 10,000m on the track in the infancy of the event for women. However, she lacked finishing speed so, working with her coach, she created this session. Run 400m @ 5k pace Recovery 400m@ marathon pace Run 300m @ 1500m pace Recovery 300m @ marathon pace Run 200m @ 800m pace Recovery 200m @ marathon pace Run 100 sprint Recovery 100m @ marathon pace. That is one set consisting of 2k of quality running – even the recovery periods are at marathon pace. Prior to winning the Olympic gold medal in 1988, Bondarenko completed 3 sets back to back, 3 mins recovery, 2 sets back to back, 3 minutes recovery, 1 set. … [Read more...]
Jack Daniels was wrong!?
July 18, 2009 By Leave a Comment
Well, not entirely! For example, a famous Swedish study where runners added a 20 minute continuous run at 10 mile race pace to their weekly training resulted in a 4% increase in Lactate threshold and improvements of 1 minute in 10k times all in just 14 weeks. However, it’s just half the story! Training at lactate threshold pace enables the body to become more efficient at running at that pace as the body ‘learns’ to produce less lactate at a given pace. The second half of the story though is that the body can be trained to improve the way it clears and uses the lactate already produced – if you can use it and burn it up more efficiently, you’ll be able to run at a faster pace for longer before you crash and burn right? Research … [Read more...]
A Good Rest Is Half The Work – Proverb
June 28, 2009 By Leave a Comment
Jenny, my daughter, is currently studying the Ancient Greeks at school so I thought I would share a tale with you. Milo of Croton was a legendary strongman and wrestling champion. Probably his most renown feat was carrying a bull into the arena on his shoulders. Legend has it that he then felled the bull with a single blow, slaughtered it and ate it in a single meal. The feats of eating are of less interest to us than the feats of strength!! The reason that Milo had the strength to carry the bull on his shoulders is that he started lifting it when it was still a calf and he was a young man, easily capable of lifting it. Milo lifted the calf every day and as the animal grew, so did Milo’s capability of lifting it. Whether this story is … [Read more...]